How to prepare mindfully?
Rushing through the day and doing everything in the last minute, is the past. Let’s do less and enjoy more: Let’s create the time to prepare mindfully.
I used to do everything in the last minute. I was always rushing. When I had 15 minutes to arrive somewhere, I left the house exactly 15 minutes before. When I had to hand in or present something, I often prepared it the night before or got up really early the same day, to finish the last bits. I just never felt I could do it beforehand. The truth is: I never took the time. Additionally, I squeezed in so many tasks and activities in my calendar that I already knew beforehand, I would most likely be completely exhausted at the end of the day, but I still thought: I can handle them all. Have you ever felt like this?
It wasn’t easy for me to understand that it was not the way I completed my tasks, I’ve always been well organized. The problem was my belief that I had to do 100 different things every day to proof I’m being super productive. And this is a problem we honestly have in our society. We are raised to believe we need to produce and create and show results at the end of the day. Even on our days off we often go: Let’s do some laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping…a few household tasks to say “I’ve done something”. Now the question is: How do we change this belief? By understanding that life is not a marathon, nobody gives you points for completing more tasks in a day, and your health should be your absolute priority. And for your health it is crucial to prevent stress and especially stressors (including your thoughts telling you you still need to do more).
How to slow down and take the time?
There are different mindfulness techniques that help you to come back to the present moment and relax your nervous system to define: How do I really feel right now? Can I take on another task or do I need a break? See this article for more insights: https://littlehealthyhabits.com/how-often-do-you-focus-on-your-7-senses/
The other important reflection is: When you create more time for the preparation of one specific task, this means there is less time for other tasks. That’s a decision you need to make: Do I prefer quality or quantity? You can also think like this: Do I prefer wellbeing or stress?
Once you’ve decided you go for the quality and the wellbeing, the next question is: What are the most important and most urgent tasks of today?
It’s a very personal decision. Take your time for it. What I can guarantee you, because I’ve seen it myself and with so many other people: Once you start to prioritize, you do less and really focused, you deliver better results, and this has a positive impact in all areas of your life. So yes, you actually improve your efficiency by slowing down. “Sometimes taking time is actually a shortcut.” (Haruki Murakami)
How to prepare mindfully?
Here are the questions I like to ask myself:
- Who’s my audience? (Note: The audience can also be yourself)
- What’s the goal?
- What’s the status quo of this audience?
- What resources (facilities and tools) do I have available to reach the goal?
- In what areas do I need help or input?
- What are my high priority task? (=Important and urgent)
- What are my low priority tasks? (If I don’t find the time, I might be able to externalize this part)
You can use this list for anything: Your work day, a presentation, a dinner with friends, a sports class… it doesn’t matter. Think about your audience and goal and how to reach it with these questions. Who’s your audience: Yourself? Your family? Your colleagues? Is your goal to pick up your kids more relaxed? Is your goal to leave your house 10 minutes earlier? Is your goal to give a great presentation? This is the decision you need to take.
From my personal experience: My goal is to enjoy both the preparation time and the programs with the participants (Another goal is that my participants fully enjoy the experience, and this is very related to my first goal). I’ve learnt to prepare my content and hand-outs several days in advance and arrive as early as possible to prepare the setting and myself. In my last workshop, I had to travel and I was lucky to share the preparation time with Verónica, a great friend and Yoga teacher, who came with me as a collaborator. We arrived a day early and prepared the different rooms and tools, got to know the hotel and walking distances, talked to the organizers and practiced our closing ceremony to tune into the energy. I didn’t take on any other tasks this day. A few years ago I would have still done at least a few calls, a few E-Mails. But not anymore. We enjoyed the preparation day and I went to bed relaxed, knowing it was all there, waiting for us in the morning.
If you (and your team) need help to get to this feeling, please let me know. You can leave me a comment or send me an E-Mail: julia@littlehealthyhabits.com.
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